Apparatus for feeding ground material



March 31, 1959 n'. D. BOATRIGHT ET AL 9,

APPARATUS F OR FEEDING GROUND MATERIAL Filed Jan. 22, 1958 INVENTORS.DEAN D. BOATRIGHT 8 JOHN I? HOLT FIGS. 5

ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR'FEEDING GROUND MATERIALDean D. Boatright, Cleveland, and John P. Holt, Beach- .wood, Ohio,assignors, by mesne assignments, to-Central National Bank of Cleveland,trustee, Cleveland,

Ohio, a national. banking association Application January 22, 1958,Serial No. 710,581

9 Claims. (Cl. 222-493) The present invention relates to apparatus .tforvfeeding ground or pulverulent material under pressure "and, moreparticularly, to a pressurized container having fluid-operated valvemeans to control the flowof such material.

In various industrial applications, it isoften necessary or desirable toflow pulverulent or granular materialto a point of use. For example, inone instance ground refractory material such as cementitiousmateriahvarious aggregate mixtures, and the like are shot under pressurealong walls of a furnace to'replace or repair the linings thereof. Anapparatus for eifecting this deposition of ground material is shown anddescribed in U.S. Patent No. 2,615,693 to Matirko. In this apparatus :anoutlet valve is opened and closed by a suitable linkage :acmated by ahand operated lever located on the outside of the apparatus. Ordinarily,this arrangement for operating the outlet valve is preferred, since itavoids placing any mechanically-activated valve operators within thecontainer where the pulverulentmaterial abrades and rapidly wears awayany valve operating device or closure structure designed to operate theoutlet valve andits enclosing stru ture. Such abrasion on structureswithin the contain r is particularly severe upon discharging materialtherefrom in view of the pressurized atmosphere of the container whichforces the particles of the material against such structures as Well aspushing the particles from the container. As a'result, malfunctioningdevelops rather quickly in any usual valve-operating means stationedwithin a pressurized container. I

Although the pressurized container of Patent No. 2,615,693 operates wellwhen the pressure is of the order of 40 p.s.i.g. or less, it has beenfound quite difficult to operate the container at higher pressures. Theoutlet valve is so tightly jammed against its seat by the higherpressures within the containerthat workmen are able to operate the valveonly with difficulty.

The present apparatus is capable of easy operation even though pressureswithin the apparatus substantially exceed 40 p.s.i.g. We use afluid-operated piston and cylinder structure to actuate the outlet valveof our container. This structure is easily operated even after extendeduse and does not develop leaks under exposure to the abrading action ofpressurized particles. The piston of our structure is deformable inresponse to pressure to form a tight sealof extended area with thecylinder to prevent any escape of pressure or material struction.Moreover, major wear of the piston or cylinder may be compensated for bya simple adjustment and without disassembling the cylinder structurefrom the apparatus. I

It is, therefore, 'a principal object of the present invention toprovide improved apparatus for feeding ground material under pressure.

Another object is .to provide a pressurized container having outletmeans actuated by a .fiuideoperatedcontrol.

Patented Mar. 31, 195$? :A further object isto provide a pressurizedcontainer for feeding granular material having outlet valve meansoperated "by a "piston and :cylinder structure in which the piston ispressure-deformable.

A .still further object is to provide a pressurized con tainer forfeeding pulverulent material having an outlet valve operated by acylinder and pressure-sensitive piston, in which any major wear on thecylinder and piston may be easily compensated for by an adjustment.

Other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

.To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the inventionconsists of the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly'pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing andfollowing disclosure describing in detail the invention, such drawingand disclosure illustrating, however, but one or more of the variousways in which the invention may be practiced.

.In said annexed drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of the pressurized container embodying ourinvention.

Figure 2-is an'enlargedfragmentary view of Figure '1 showing a piston atone end of'the cylinder. v

Figure 3 is an enlarged'fragmentary view similar to Figure 2illustrating the piston at the opposite end ofthe cylinder and deformedagainst its seat.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the outlet means of thecontainer of Figure 1, and

Figure 5zis an enlarged fragmentary view similar to Figure 2 showing amodification.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment shown includes a container orvessel 10 supported on a carriage or wagon 11 by which the container 10is transported from station to station. Brackets 12 may be used tosupport hose. Suitable valves and other controls are located atthe'forward end of the carriage '11 as at 13 to effect the operation ofthe container.

The-container 10 is generally of cylindrical construction externally andhas a conical or funnel shaped section 14 (Figures land 4) which extendsat the small end from the bottom of the container 10 to define an outletand terminates at the large end by the Walls of the congranularmaterial.

tainer 10. The container is air tight and the inlet and outlet valvesthereof are preferably made to seat tightly. The container may be usedto eject under pressure either fluids or solids, but it is best suitedfor pulverulent or The latter may be added to the container110 through aclosure 15 which opens inwardly. Pivoted at 16 in a convenient locationnear an inlet opening 17 is an arm 18 which carries the closure "15,being loosely pivoted so as to allow some freedom of independentswinging movement on'the part of the closure element and thereby assureaccurate seating against the opening when the closure is swung intoplace. The amount of independent swinging motion by the closure 15 withrespect to the arm 18 is limited by a stop 19 and by a double taperdrilling in the hub of closure 15.

A packing gasket 20, which may be secured to the closure 15, provides anair'tight'seal'when the closure is in'place. Also inirelation to thepivot mounting l6 and to the arm 18 is an extension 21 which, beingrigid with the arm 18,

from the apparatus'through 'thep' ston andcylinder'con- "connectedbya'link 22 to a ioggh? Operating mean-5 embodying a hand wheel 23mounted in a suitable bracket 24 on the container 10. The container ispressurized through the valved inlet pipe 25.

Within the container or vessel 10, there is fluid-operated means 'tocontrol the how of material therefrom.

fixes the ball to an end plate of a valve rod 30 as shown in Figure 4.At the other end of the rod 30, a pressuresensitive or deformable pistongenerally shown at 31 slidably engages a cylinder 32. Thepressure-deformable piston 31 includes a resilient jacket or covering 33such as rubber enclosing a deformable metal 34 such as lead. The lead orsimilar metal may either be solid or in a milled or articulate form orimpregnated in rubber to support yieldingly the cover 33. The normallateral expansion of the piston 31 may be regulated by a threaded bolt35 which extends through the piston and plates 36 and 37 on oppositesides axially of the piston 31, plate 37 being fixed as by welding tothe end of the valve rod 30.

Cylinder 32 is screwed into an enclosing collar 38 substantiallyopposite to the valve seat provided by the conical section 26 and isreinforced by the enclosing collar 38, which is fixed to the containeror vessel 10. A tube 39 beveled at the lower end is secured to thecylinder 32 and forms a seat for the deformable piston 31. It will benoted that in the embodiment of Figures 2 and 3, the piston defines onespace A within the cylinder 32 which is closed to the atmosphere of thevessel 10 and a second space A which is open to such atmosphere. A tube40 communicates with the space A and connects by a coupling 41 to aconduit 42 which extends externally of the vessel 10 to a three wayvalve 43. The latter is open to the outside atmosphere through theconduit 44 and joined to a source of air pressure through the conduit45. Tube 39 with a tapered seat for piston 31 serves two functions. Theseat itself stops the upward travel of the piston 31 in such a way asnot to cut the rubber of the ball or to allow bolt 35 to strike a plug64. In addition, air connection 41 is made through this seat above thetaper so that the position of the ball does not close off the airconnection at any time.

Figure illustrates a modified cylinder 46 which is closed to theatmosphere of the vessel at both ends. A plate 47 seals the lower end ofcylinder 46 to form a space A which is closed to the atmosphere of thevessel. The plate 47 has an opening provided with a resilient grommet 48to make an air tight engagement with the rod 30. A second tube 49communicates with the space A and connects by a coupling 50 to a conduit51 leading to a three way valve 52. Conduit 53 of the valve 52 is 'opento the outside atmosphere while conduit 54 is connected to a source ofair pressure.

The ejector chamber 27 receives a fiuid jet nozzle 55 to which a gassuch as air is supplied under pressure. A fitting 56 secured to thechamber 27 receives suitable pipe 58 to which a flexible hose 59 isattached. The hose 59 terminates in any suitable type of dischargenozzle 60 to which liquid may be introduced if desired through the tube61.

Particularly in the embodiment of Figure 2, the relative proportions ofthe maximum cross-sectional diameter of the piston 31 and the ball valve28 can be important. The diameter of the piston 31 should besufficiently larger than that of the ball valve 28 so that sufiicientforce develops to overcome the downward thrust of the compressed fluidwithin the container 10 and the weight of material within the containerlying above the vall valve 28. The resistance encountered is primarily afunction of the flat plate area of the ball valve normal to thedirection of its movement. In general, the diameter of piston 31 isselected on the basis of pressure needed to overcome the resistancetransmitted to it by the valve rod 30 plus the resistance encountered bypiston 31 itself due to friction with cylinder walls and fluidresistance, if more than negligible. In one embodiment, for example, thelargest possible cross-sectional area of piston 31 was four times thecross-sectional area of ball valve 28. In

short, the fiat plate area of piston 31 is sufficiently larger terial incontainer 10 plus the friction resulting from the seal formed by thedeformation of piston 31 against the wall of a cylinder such as cylinder32.

The inside diameter of a cylinder like cylinder 32 is the same as theoutside diameter of piston 31 in a nondeformed state so that assembly iseasy. Turning the bolt into nut 65 brings plates 36 and 37 closertogether to compress the piston 31. The latter being elastic deformslaterally against the Wall of a cylinder thereby forming a seal whichrestricts the flow of fluid between container 10 and space A In view ofthe foregoing, it will be apparent that deforming piston 31 more than isnecessary to obtain the required force can so increase the frictionbetween piston 31 and the cylinder walls as to lock or freeze the pistonin place. In order to close the ball valve 28, pressurized fluid isallowed to enter space A and must be of suflicient pressure to overcomethe resistance encountered by the ball valve 28 and the piston itself.This operation can also be influenced by the diameter of the piston 31.

In one form of practicing the invention, the container 10 is firstcharged with material and then pressurized through the pipe 25 to apressure of about 20 p.s.i.g. to about 75 p.s.i.g., depending on theoperation of the gun or nozzle 60. Closed space A is also pressurizedthrough the conduit 45 and valve 43 to a pressure exceeding that in thecontainer 10, for example p.s.i.g., so that the ball valve 28 is notunseated by the pressure within the container. When it is desired to usethe material in the container, three way valve 43 is merely vented tothe outside atmosphere, and the pressure within the vessel 10 is usednot only to force the pulverulent material into the ejector chamber 27,but actually to lift the ball valve 28 so that this action is possible.It will be noted, therefore, that no manual lifting or other work isrequired by an operator to eject material under pressure from thecontainer 10. During this time, the deformable piston 31 is movedupwardly and forced against the seat provided by the tube 39. Since thepiston is deformable, the covering 33 and lead 34 are distorted to ashape such as that shown in Figure 3. Accordingly, the piston 31 makesan extended surface seal against the seat of the tube 39 and cylinderwalls 32 or 46, even though either or both the piston 31 and tube 39with the cylinder walls 32 or 46 have some degree of wear and/or aresomewhat misaligned. The seal provided by the piston 31 is leak proof inspite of the relatively high pressures present within the vessel 10, thetighter the seal of the piston 31 becomes.

When it is desired to close the ball valve 28, space A is pressurizedthrough conduit 45 and valve 43 to force the piston 31 downwardly andthereby engage the ball valve 28 against its seat. During the axialmovement of the rod 30, the taper of the conical seat directs the ballvalve 28 toward its seat. A collar 62 (Figure 4) supported by a bar 63secured to the section 14 may also be used to guide this movement.

In order to avoid any inadvertent lifting of the ball valve 28, as whenspace A is not suitably pressurized to withstand the pressure of thecontainer 10, and to provide complete control of the operation of thepiston 31 in the cylinders 32 or 46, the embodiment of Figure 5 may beused. In this instance space A is pressurized or vented through thevalve 52 in the same manner that valve 43 controls the pressure of areaA As the material from container 10 reaches the ejector chamber 27, theair from the nozzle 55 carries the material through the hose 59 to thedischarge nozzle 60 and thus to a point of use.

After an appreciable period of use, there may be major wear between thecylinders 32 or 46 and the deformable piston 31. In our apparatus, thiscan be compensated for without disassembling the cylinders from thevessel 10. A plug 64 communicates with the cylinders 32 or 46 and may beremoved to insert a suitable wrench for fitting the head of the bolt 35.Since a nut 65 on the bolt 35 is secured to the plate 37, merely turningthe bolt brings the plates 36 and 37 closer together and extends thedeformable piston 31 laterally and into a tighter engagement with thecylinder.

It will now be apparent that we have provided improved apparatus forfeeding ground material under pressure. The outlet means of ourcontainer is actuated by a fluidoperated control and does not requireany manual assistance in actually opening or closing the outlet means.In particular, we use a piston and cylinder arrangement in which thepiston is pressure-deformable to make an extended surface seal. Anymajor wear on the cylinder and piston may be easily compensated for byan adjustment. Very rough treatment can be imposed upon our apparatuswithout impairing its operation.

Other forms embodying the features of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the features herein disclosed, providedthose stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchfeatures be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention:

1. Apparatus for ejecting pulverulent material under pressure therefromincluding a pressurized vessel having a comically-shaped outlet defininga valve seat and fluidoperated means controlling the flow of saidmaterial through the outlet comprising a ball valve engageable with saidvalve seat, a valve rod secured to the ball valve and having apressure-deformable piston adjacent one end, a cylinder. to receive thepiston for sliding engagement therewith, said piston dividing thecylinder into one end open to the vessel and an opposite end closed tothe vessel, and means to vary the pressure in said closed end of thecylinder to move the valve rod in cooperation with the pressure in thevessel to raise and lower the ball valve with respect to said seat.

2. Apparatus for ejecting pulverulent material under pressure therefromincluding a pressurized vessel having a conically-shaped outlet defininga valve seat, and fluidoperated means controlling the flow of saidmaterial through said outlet comprising a ball valve engageable withsaid valve seat, a valve rod secured to the ball valve and having apressure-sensitive piston adjacent one end, a cylinder secured at oneend to a wall of the vessel substantially opposite to saidconically-shaped outlet to receive the pressure-sensitive piston formovement therein, said piston defining one space within the cylinderclosed to the atmosphere of the vessel and another space open to theatmosphere of the vessel, and means to vary the pressure in said closedspace of the cylinder to move the valve rod in cooperation with thepressure in said vessel to raise and lower the,ball valve with respectto said seat, said pressure-sensitive piston being deformed by thepressure differential between the pressure of the closed space of thecylinder :and that of the pressurized vessel to make an extended surfaceseal with the cylinder, said conicallyshaped outlet serving to guide theball valve toward said seat.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further including an ejector chamberto receive the pulverulent material from the comically-shaped outlet,and means to pass fluid under pressure through the ejector chamber tocarry the pulverulent material to a point of use.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further including an ejector chamberto receive the pulverulent material from the comically-shaped outlet, adischarge conduit joined to the ejector chamber to direct thepulverulent material to a point of use, and means to pass fluid underpressure through the ejector chamber to carry the pulverulent materialthrough the discharge conduit to said point of use.

5. Apparatus for ejecting pulverulent material under pressure therefromincluding a pressurized vessel having a conically-shaped outlet defininga valve seat, and fluidoperated means controlling the flow of saidmaterial through said outlet comprising a ball valve eng-ageable withsaid valve seat, a valve rod secured to the ball valve and having apressure-deformable piston adjacent one end comprising ductile metalcontained in a resilient jacket, a cylinder disposed within the vesseland secured to one end of a wall of the vessel substantially opposite tosaid comically-shaped outlet to receive the deformable piston forsliding movement therein, said piston defining one space within thecylinder closed to the atmosphere of the vessel and another space opento the atmosphere of the vessel, a seat for the deformable piston in theclosed space of the cylinder, and means to vary the pressure in saidclosed space of the cylinder to move the valve rod in cooperation withthe pressure in said vessel to raise and lower the ball valve withrespect to said seat, said piston being deformable by the pressuredifferential between the pressure of the closed area of the cylinder andthat of the pressurized vessel to make an extended surface seal againstsaid seat in the closed area and the adjacent walls of the cylinder andhaving a cross-sectional area normal to said valve rod sufficientlyexceeding a like cross-sectional area of said ball valve to effect suchmovement of said valve rod.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said pressure-deformablepiston further comprises a plate on opposite sides of the jacketedductile metal disposed axially of the cylinder, and means to move theplates relatively to each other to vary the seal of the deformablejacketed metal with the seat therefor and the walls of the cylinder.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said pressure-deformablepiston further includes a plate on opposite sides of the jacketedductile metal disposed axially of the cylinder, and bolt means extendingthrough the plates and jacketed ductile metal adapted to draw the platestogether to increase the area of the seal of the deformable jacketedmetal with the seat therefor and walls of the cylinder, and the vesselhas a normally closed opening communicating with said closed area of thecylinder to permit access to the bolt means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 further including guide means carriedby the pressurized vessel and substantially encompassing the valve rodto guide its movement in raising and lowering the ball valve withrespect to the seat for said valve.

9. Apparatus for ejecting pulverulent material under pressure therefromincluding a pressurized vessel having a comically-shaped outlet defininga valve seat, and fluidoperated means controlling the flow of saidmaterial through said outlet comprising a ball valve engageable withsaid'valve seat, a valve rod secured to the ball valve and having apressure-deformable piston adjacent one end comprising ductile metalcontained in a resilient jacket, :1 cylinder disposed within the vesseland secured at one end to a wall of the vessel substantially opposite tosaid comically-shaped outlet to receive the deformable piston forsliding movement therein, a seal at the other end of the cylinder aboutthe valve rod to close the cylinder from the atmosphere of the vessel,and means alternatively to vary the pressure in the cylinder on oppositesides of the deformable piston to reciprocate the piston and valve rodand raise and lower the ball valve with respect to its seat, said pistonbeing deformable by the pressure drop existing thereacross to make anextended surface seal with the walls of the cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,723,057 Golden NOV. 8, 1955

